At Tallinn Music Week, the most exciting boundary-pushing music and art festivals of the Baltic region — Skaņu Mežs andÜle Heli — meet again. On April 10 from 19:00 in the Telliskivi Green Hall, expect an evening where experimental soundscapes collide with bold artistic vision, where sonic exploration knows no genre limits, and where the unpredictable becomes the norm.
Tallinn Music Week will take place from April 9 to 12 across the city of Tallinn, bringing together a conference, an exhibition series, a music festival, and various other cultural and entertainment events. Tickets for both the conference and other events can be purchased in the TMW online store.
Skaņu Mežs, the Latvian event, brings together the most individual artists as they search for new sounds and sonic dimensions. These performances reveal a constantly shifting scene—unpredictable, defiantly outside the mainstream, and beyond comfort zones: in short, a pure “sound forest” (or “skaņu mežs” in Latvian).
“Skaņu Mežs casts its net as generously as possible over the vast and thrilling terrains of new musicmaking,” says Tom Service of BBC3. Meanwhile, Daryl Worthington of The Quietus described the festival as “a space of radical sound and vision”, and “a world of deviant and defiant art”.
Üle Heli is an Estonian festival that, rather than focusing on genre, explores the variety of meanings in music and sound and the connections across different art forms. It’s also a platform for sound artists and experimental musicians to develop and present their ideas.
This year's Skaņu mežs program as part of Tallinn Music Week features four artists from Latvia whose practices span a wide spectrum of experimental music, from textured electronics and noise aesthetics to intimate, performative pop hybrids and dark, industrial-inspired soundscapes. Each of them in their own way expands the notion of music as a medium, emphasizing the physicality, spatiality and emotional intensity of sound.
EIII
is an experimental electronic music project that combines everyday objects and environmental sounds with elements of contemporary electronic music, creating a deeply immersive and richly textured sound experience. In 2024, with the release of the debut album UNDULATIONS, EIII began actively performing in the Baltic States, collaborating with local and international sound artists. In 2025, the second album REFRACTIONS was released by the British label Opal Tapes. In 2025, EIII also released music on two compilations: EADC by the UK label Opal Tapes, and Who is the Dreamer by the Brazilian label The Church of Nosy Goat. The compositions "Lateral Undulation" and "a nem oia" received audience choice awards in the FILTRS producer competitions (FILTRS I in 2023 and FILTRS II in 2025), organised by Kinetic, Radio NABA, and Erica Synths.
Ofae
is a musician and composer from Latvia, currently based in Austria. She creates intimately expressive experimental pop music, where she combines the softness of her voice and the traditional instrument kokle with emotionally charged synths and aggressive drums, sometimes leading to a cathartic, apocalyptic release.
In 2025, she debuted as a theatre composer with The National Network at the Latvian National Theatre, an award-winning production that received the International Theatre Critics' Award. In this work, Ofae composed for the church organ, exploring unconventional playing techniques to create sounds that stretch beyond Western-tuned ears. She is currently studying a Master's in Post-digital Lutherie at the University of Art and Design Linz, where she focuses on performance-based sound installations.
R3YWYA
is a noise project created by Evija Ābrama. By improvising with sound, the artist explores the communication processes and how noise becomes an integral part of the space. Her works reflect an eco-acoustic approach: sounds are perceived not only as material but as spatial relationships, where rhythm both breaks and imitates the noises of the environment.
the body of a swan
is a darkwave duo from Riga, Latvia. Founded around 2022, they released their first album tape1 on 4 April 2025. The band's sound consists of dark synths, industrial-inspired drum machine samples, noise elements, soundscape experimentation, and heavily effect-processed vocals.
TMW 2026 runs from 9–12 April in Tallinn, with the conference at Nordic Hotel Forum from 10–11 April, the showcase festival across the city's venues from 9–11 April and city festival events throughout the event. TMW 2026 passes are available from the TMW webshop. The PRO Pass (€225, end price €250) provides access to the conference and DigiPRO networking platform, as well as priority access to the music festival. Festival Passes granting access to all music events are available for €79 (end price €95).
